The Sennheiser MKE-440 is an on-camera microphone that features dual-stereo capsules for greater sound capture.
Sound is as important as the visuals when it comes to video content creation, and for interviews or atmosphere the Sennheiser MKE-440 allows you to capture a much wider stereo field by including two mic capsules in the left and right mic housing.
For shooting scenarios like two person interviews, or capturing the ambient sound of a location, the polar pattern and microphone coverage is wide enough to hear much of the surrounding sound, but cancels out sound from behind the microphone (from the camera operator for example). The capsules are shock mounted independently in the metal casing to remove unwanted movement noise, rather than the entire microphone on the camera hot shoe.
The 3.5mm TRS jack cable has been relocated to the front of the microphone to avoid it coming across the camera screen or viewfinder while filming. It runs on 2xAAA batteries with an impressive battery life of 100 hours.
Specifications of the Sennheiser MKE-440 at a glance:
50Hz to 20KHz frequency response.
Stereo supercardioid microphone capsules.
Runs on 2xAAA batteries for 100 hours of operation.
Low cut filter and 3-level sensitivity switch.
The Sennheiser MKE-440 is available to purchase now from CVP from €294.33, and from B&H from $349.95.

The new Saramonic UwMic10 wireless line is the company’s latest addition to their wide catalogue of affordable audio solutions for DSLR/M shooters. One of their most popular products is the SR-AX100, a passive splitter that turns your camera’s stereo mic input to dual mono, and provides individual level controls for two 3.5mm inputs. This simple solution makes it easy to dial the levels of two powered sources, such as a wireless receiver and battery-powered shotgun microphone (like the Rode VideoMic Pro), a common setup for run-and-gun shooters.
Alternatively, it allows you to create a safety track at lower gain if you’re only capturing audio with one input. Saramonic also offers similar, battery-powered adapters with XLR inputs, like the SR-AX107.
Now, the company’s social media pages have started showcasing their new Saramonic UwMic10 wireless UHF range. Perhaps the most interesting of these is the dual channel TX10 receiver, which can accept two signals simultaneously. The receiver comes bundled with a single RX10 bodypack transmitter that accepts an included lavalier mic through what seems to be a locking 3.5mm jack: a nice touch. At $270, the bundle is certainly priced very attractively, considering it opens the possibility of a versatile two-channel wireless system without extensively (or expensively!) rigging up your camera.
Saramonic also offers the HU10, a dynamic handheld microphone with a built-in transmitter. There is also a plug version of the transmitter for use with your own XLR microphone, although it is unclear whether the unit will also provide phantom power. This would be a very useful feature to use, for example, with a condenser shotgun microphone on a boom.
As you can see, the sound quality seems to be adequate, offering a decent range without any audio dropouts. A compact setup like this would be ideal for a wide range of run-and-gun situations such as documentary, ENG, weddings and events.
The products are available for pre-order from Amazon.com at a highly reduced price, with a shipping date of March 1st. This means the Saramonic wireless line will be available just before Rode’s long-awaited Rodelink Newsshooter announced at last year’s IBC. The latest addition to the Rodelink series is an all-in-one 2.4 GHz digital signal system powerhouse, accepting XLR and 3.5mm, providing phantom power and compatible with NF batteries. It is available for pre-order from B&H with a mid-May estimated release date and will be priced very competitively, at least, when compared to the other big name in wireless microphones for video: the venerable Sennheiser AVX.
Will you be trying the Saramonic system?

The JuicedLink Little DARling is finally here. The compact audio recorder is very small—perfect for those looking for a fuss-free sound solution with the option to sync seamlessly between multiple devices.
First announced way back at NAB 2014, the Little DARling is a compact audio recorder. Powering off a single AA battery and recording to a micro SD card, the JuicedLink micro box is designed to work in tandem with a lavalier microphone (not included).
Using the detachable belt clip, you can easily conceal the Little DARling on your subject thanks to its slight form factor.
The unique selling point? At the flick of a switch, you can send a slate tone to every DARling in your wireless loop, offering the perfect sync point when you’re in the edit.
Compact Audio Recorder With Wireless Slate Tone
The wireless control contributed in large part to the delayed release of the Juiced Little DARling. The DAR-CMD-HHLR-433-MD Transmitter to be precise (catchy) connects to multiple Little DARlings at a time, with the ability to stop/start each of the devices as well as send a slate tone for the perfect sync point in post.
Picture this, you’re out shooting a documentary solo, and you have three subjects that interchange between your locations. You want decent audio for all three but don’t want/can’t facilitate the hassle of three wireless receiver packs feeding into your camera.
With four of these compact audio recorders, one for each of the talent and one outputting to the camera, you can capture independent audio from all three subjects, start/stop all devices remotely, and send a slate tone to each simultaneously so that you can quickly match up all audio sources in post.
This can be an excellent alternative to syncing audio in post with something like PluralEyes where the software relies on the audio sources to sound very similar; using a slate tone method means you can sync audio up that doesn’t depend on the same waveform (for example a conversation across a large room).
The JuicedLink Little DARling accepts audio via a locking 3.5mm input. It can run up to 12 hours on a single AA battery and provides plug-in power for typical lavalier microphones.
Full specification of the JuicedLink Little DARling
Audio Recording: Dual-Mono
Audio File: 16b/48KHz two track output on MicroSD
Redundancy Recording: Second safety track at 16dB lower
Audio Input: Locking 3.5mm threaded jack
Plug-in power: Yes
Pre-Amp: JuicedLink low-noise
Audio Output: Locking 3.5mm stereo threaded minijack
User Interface: Two 7-segment LED displays for menu settings and level meter
Power/Start/Stop: Recessed Button
Advanced Settings: Config File loaded on MicroSD
Power: Single AA battery (not included) up to 12 hours
Physical: Aluminum Enclosure
Weight: 2 ounces (without battery)
Dimensions: 2.8 x 1.9 x 0.93 inches
Mounting: 2 threaded holes/PEMs for mounting accessories (such as belt clip and 1/4-20 mounts)
While it’s not always ideal to record audio that you can’t monitor, sometimes a simplified on-set workflow takes precedence. The Little DARling ensures this method of audio capture retains easy to sync files in the edit, what’s more with the secondary -16db recording offers great redundancy for any surprise audio level spikes.

The miniaturization of cameras is well advanced, even on large sensors with DSLRs and system cameras. At the same time, microphones haven’t changed as much, with only a few companies like Røde trying to minimize the footprint of new microphones and transmitting devices.
In comes Mikme, a little box-shaped microphone that promises to give studio-quality sound for on-the-go recordings. The recorder is built in, but it can also be operated through a dedicated smartphone app as well as a Mac or PC. Looks like a cool device to grab b-roll audio for video content on the go, easier to handle than most other recorders.
The makers behind the microphone come from a professional audio engineering background, with most of them former employees of AKG, the Austrian pro-audio maker, probably most famous for their “golden” studio headphones.
The guys seem to have hit a homerun with Mikme as their Indiegogo campaign overfunded within a few hours. Depending on the support package you choose, you currently can order one device for around $170 through campaign contributions.
We are in contact with the people behind Mikme and will take one of their prototypes for a spin soon.

Rode has announced a new on-camera mic. The Rode Stereo VideoMic X is an condenser microphone that connects to your camera via a 3.5mm or XLR.
The Stereo VideoMic X utilizes a pair of 1/2″ externally polarised condenser capsules and like many newer Rode mics it features a Rycote lyre shock mount to reduce handling noise.
It can be powered by a 9V battery (up to 30 hours) or via P48 phantom power via XLR. More on XLR, the StereoMic X features two mini XLR outputs, and connects to full size inputs via a separately supplied cable.
It’s clear that Rode has targeted a slightly higher profile of filmmakers; we’re seeing the FS700 and C300 featured in the video over DSLRs (more common in previous promos), more professional features like mini XLR inputs accommodate for this.
The standard supplied 3.5mm jack also ensures that a wider range of cameras are compatible.
The mic has a couple of buttons on the back. As well as on/off you have a high frequency setting for use with the included wind shield, a three stage high pass filter (0/75/150Hz) and a three stage level adjustment 0, -10db and +20db.
Rode are some of the first guests on our IBC On The Couch show, we will be getting a hands on look at this device, so stay tuned.

Watch previous episodes of ON THE COUCH & ON THE GO by clicking here! Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
It’s always great to sit and talk with friends from the industry and chat about what’s on our minds regarding production workflows and issues. On this 16th episode of ON THE COUCH, I sat down with Jem Schofield from theC47.com, who is well known for his education and workshop classes in the filmmaking field.
Apart from being an educator, Jem is also a producer and much of our talk focused on getting better audio for production – something that is constantly neglected by owner/operators who need to do their own audio.
We touched on the fact that a lot of shooters who started with DSLRs were able to deliver great video all of a sudden because of the technical capabilities – while at the same time the level of audio got worse overall because people used the terrible built-in microphones with their low-quality preamps to record location audio.
Jem emphasized the importance of understanding the differences between microphone pickup patterns when deciding on a microphone for your production. Many just go with one shotgun microphone for all their purposes, but there is no “one size fits all”. Like us, Jem loves to work with our sponsor Røde’s microphones as they provide some of the best value for money in the industry.
My go-to boom microphone for my own smaller productions is the Røde NTG3, a shotgun microphone with a very narrow supercardioid pickup pattern. Jem argues it’s great for exterior recording but he prefers the NT55 inside rooms because it has a broader pickup (ideal when 2 persons are talking to each other) and it doesn’t have the “pickup tail” that the NTG3 has. While being super narrow with its pickup, the pickup tail also makes the NTG3 more susceptible for picking up sounds from behind the microphone (e.g. ceiling fans, air conditioning, …), handling noise and sound reflections – and that’s exactly where the NT55 shines.
The new Røde SmartLav+ combined with the Røde Rec app for iOS was another product combo that Jem mentioned – a super easy and super inexpensive way of always carrying a very usable lavelier microphone with you as it records straight into your phone using the app – not a bad value for money considering the SmartLav+ is around $75 and their app another $5 (definitely much cheaper than dedicated sound recorders that are often left in the studio exactly when you need them for an occasional sound bite shot on a small camera or DSLR).
We also talked about other subjects including camera stabilization and the discussion MoVi vs. Steadicam and how irrelevant it is considering the fact that both tools have their advantages and disadvantages (and the fact that Tabb Firchau from Freefly and Garrett Brown, the inventor of the Steadicam, are giving workshops together).
Before we wrapped the show up, we discussed the fact that like me, Jem quite likes Final Cut Pro X and thinks he is able to work faster with it than with any other NLE. We also touched on the up- and downsides of Premiere and Avid.
Lastly, Jem Schofield mentioned that he is going to do another extensive filmmaking workshop in Scotland for a week starting July 27th, 2014. This “Filmmaker’s Intensive” will deal with the science and art of telling stories and people will learn all about lighting, shooting and also getting the right audio for their productions. Head over to their website here to check it out: http://www.thefilmmakersintensive.com
To watch all ON THE COUCH episodes so far, click here.

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This IBC we decided to go into some other gear for your production aside from the usual camera gadgetry. After digging through loads of low quality crap we found the KTec booth, a company known for their good quality boom poles.
Dave Fisk showed us their most affordable pole, this one is called KTec KE89. It’s $157.50 and you can order it here: LINK

It’s not a laser gun, it’s a shotgun microphone!
Rode is a great company with family tradition and they always come up with some great ideas. Why not ditch that audio recorder so many of us tend to carry around to our disadvantage? It’s bulky, it’s heavy, it’s getting on our nerves, well on mine at least. What a neat idea to build it right into the microphone.
Read on: